MDHigh.com - Maryland wraps up regular season with rivalry week (Part II)

November 4, 2009

Dave Lomonico
MDHigh.com Publisher

Part II

It doesn't get much better than rivalry week in high school football. Alumni return in droves. Old timers reminisce about the flea flicker that won it in '75. Kids paint their faces in the school's colors. Families fire up the grill in the parking lot. Pranks are played, signs are made, music is blared.

Best of all, records don't matter. They are tossed aside like empty hot dog wrappers. These games are for tradition. These games are for bragging rights. These games are for pride. Winners feel the adulation for 365 days. Losers can expect a "For Sale" sign in their front yards.

This Saturday features four of the most storied rivalries in Maryland High School football history. Here's a look at each of the grudge matches.

McDonogh vs. Gilman @ 2 p.m.

The argument can be made that the Loyola-Calvert Hall game on Thanksgiving Day is the best rivalry in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, but McDonogh-Gilman is a close second. These two schools have been playing each other for 94 years in one of the oldest rivalries in Maryland.

"It's more than just a football game, it's an incredible celebration of both schools," said McDonogh coach Dom Damico. "It's just a big Baltimore tradition, and normally the game will have some implication on the MIAA championship."

That's true this year, especially. The Eagles have a chance to win their first outright MIAA title in school history. (McDonogh tied for the title in 2006 and 2001). Gilman, meanwhile, has won six outright MIAA titles and nine overall since 1994. They won 11 titles prior to that, when they played in the MSA.

Indeed, Gilman is the more storied program and has dominated the rivalry against McDonogh. Gilman won the first ever meeting between the two schools and hasn't looked back since. The Greyhounds hold a sizable 56-32-5 lead over the Eagles.

"Win the league and beat McDonough," Gilman coach Biff Poggi says year after year. "Those are our two goals."

Damico wouldn't go as far as Poggi, but he refused to downplay the significance of this game.

"Your team is judged on if you win this game," Damico said. "You can be 2-8, but if you beat Gilman it makes the season. There's a lot of pressure. It's similar to Ohio State-Michigan in that regard."

The week leading up to the big game - "Spirit Week" - is special for both schools. Pep rallies, bonfires, hall of fame inductions, parades, parodies and skits are just some of the events that are held.

Of course, every rivalry has its ribbing points and one of the big ones is McDonogh's history as a "farm school." The Gilman students put on a skit where the actors dress up like hillbillies and mock their rivals. In turn, McDonogh holds a dress-down day where all the students don their overalls and flannel shirts because "at Gilman they think we're still farmers from the 1800s," according to Damico.

All kidding aside, this is a rivalry defined by respect. In the middle of Spirit Week the Gilman brass makes the trek to McDonogh, wishing them luck in the game. McDonogh does the same a day later. Both institutions are proud and want to win badly, but both also recognize a formidable, honorable foe when they see one.

"It's big-time respect," Damico said. "Everything [McDonogh and Gilman] does we want to do it better than anyone else. And if you can compete with Gilman, you know you're going to be one of the best teams in the state. They're a great team and a great school and we're honored to play them."

Linganore vs. Urbana @ 2 p.m.

Frederick County is home to some of the finest rivalries in Maryland, and none are fiercer than Linganore-Urbana. This game doesn't have the same long-standing tradition as some of the more well-known rivalries in Maryland, but since 1995 - when Urbana first opened - these two schools have been natural rivals. On one side of I-70 sits Linganore. On the other side sits Urbana. Walking distance.

"The proximity of the school really makes this rivalry special," said Urbana's first-year coach Joe Conner. "Some other rivalries may have history and tradition, but this rivalry has two schools that are right next to each other going at it."

The close proximity means that both student bodies are familiar with one another. They frequent the same hangouts, they went to the same middle schools, they eat at the same restaurants, go to the same movie theaters. The football players were usually on the same youth-league teams.

"These kids grew up playing against each other or on the same team as one another," said Linganore coach Rick Conner (no relation to Joe). "It adds to the intrigue."

On game day, more than 5,000 red-and-black clad fans will pack Linganore's parking lot before making their way into the stadium. The Lancers faithful will cheer the home team as they trek to the locker room. Then they'll wait for the Urbana bus to turn off I-70 and make a left onto Eaglehead Drive. Chaos will ensue.

"You get on the bus and head over there and there's a tremendous amount of people, and they're all yelling stuff at you from the time you get there," Joe Conner said. "I remember when my son was the quarterback at Urbana and he got on the bus to go to Linganore. He got so wrapped up in all of it. It's crazy. It's so incredibly intense from the get-go."

Once the game starts, the Lancers fans head to the right and the Urbana fans sit on the left. From the opening kickoff to the final whistle the fans are loud and raucous. Students paint their faces in either red and black or blue and grey. One group paints their stomachs with a large letter and line up to spell "Lancers". The students cheer throughout, their voices growing hoarse by halftime. When the noise abates the band picks up the slack, blaring school fight songs.

"The crowd will be huge and they'll be into it," Rick Conner said. "It's real neat that the kids get a chance to play in a game like this in front of fans like this. It's electric."

The rivalry has been going on for 15 years and the Hawks hold a slight 9-6 advantage. Already there have been numerous memorable games. Most years the Linganore- Urbana match has been decided by a touchdown or less. Last year Linganore won in a shootout, 31-24, exacting revenge from the year previous, a 20-14 loss.

The 2006 series emanates with Joe Conner. Linganore edged out Urbana in the regular season, 13-10. But in the playoffs Urbana returned the favor, shutting out Linganore, 17-0.

"We knocked them out of the playoffs," said Joe Conner, who was an assistant at Urbana at the time. "That's the game I remember the most."

This year's game will be especially interesting. Urbana comes in with an 8-1 record and Linganore is a perfect 9-0.

"This game is for bragging rights and it's also a chance to play a real good team," Rick Conner said. "It will be a great competition and a great game."

Rivalry Week Part I

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